The Customer Journey to Online Purchase

The Customer Journey to Online Purchase

With the growth of online commerce, the path or journey undertaken by a customer to lead to a purchase decision has become increasingly complex. To use an analogy used by Nielsen in their 2013 Australian Connected Consumer Report, when you think of the landscape as a Rubik's cube, consumers rarely fit on one side; they fit across multiple blocks and their path isn't finite.

The result of this is that marketers need to start to rethink the way they view the customer journey in order to get a more accurate picture of their marketing efforts.

So while we understand that marketing channels such as email, display, paid search and social influence customers at different points, they in fact can also influence each other, meaning we shouldn't judge them in isolation.

Clapping for the Wrong Reasons

I'm intrigued by this video put together by Donald Glover / Childish Gambino and director Hiro Murai for what looks like his new album. "Clapping for the Wrong Reasons" is a strange and oneiric short film, that takes place as a sort of snapshot of the time spent recording the album in Hollywood.   

I almost feel like a strange voyeur into a very personal creative process. It's hard to shake the striking feeling of paranoia, a fragility that seems to manifest as the music is written, an almost living Brett Easton Ellis novel.

Check out the video above, or the looped USTREAM upload. 

The Chasm Diffusion Model

The Chasm Diffusion Model

Why is it that some ideas, trends or innovations take hold, while others start up but fade from existence? In other words, for every iPod and Facebook, why is there always a Zune or a Bebo?

Sociologist coined a theory to try and explain this called "diffusion" (or the theory of Diffusion of Innovations). Put simply, diffusion is the process where innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system. 

Leave the World Behind with Volvo

LeavetheWorldBehind.png

This is an absolutely fantastic piece of branded content by Volvo.

Traditionally the car brand has had a perception of being very safe, reliable, and quite frankly dull, and associated with a much older demographic. The agency has done a fantastic job of reversing this through the content.

Building upon the brand heritage, the video pairs the members of Swedish House Mafia, set to the breathtaking backdrop of Sweden itself, with audio by Swedish singer Lune and director Adam Berg.

The result is what feels like an utterly authentic, unpretentious and beautiful piece of storytelling, that makes you long to escape the city and genuinely leave the world behind.

I would have never thought about buying a Volvo, but this does a great job of making mereconsider my position. Check it out:

http://leavetheworldbehind.com/

 

An Introduction to Mental Models

An Introduction to Mental Models

Mental models put simply are a representation of an external reality inside your head. Wikipedia defines it as:

"A mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences. Mental models can help shape behaviour and set an approach to solving problems (akin to a personal algorithm) and doing tasks."

Sound of Honda

I love this new piece of branded content from Honda.  

In 1989, Ayrton Senna broke the world record on a hot lap on the Japanese F1 circuit. During this drive, Honda recorded data using an on board telemetry system that ultimately changed racing and the sport forever.  

Honda have loving brought this drive back to life, utilising the available data combined with an elaborate light display and sound system to re-create the experience. 

In an age when data visualisation has become such a hot topic, this represents one of the most incredible ways I have seen to bring cold facts and figures to life (and beautifully position Honda as an innovative car company).

Watch the video, and immerse yourself in the feeling of the ghost of a legend come to life.